The first session of the 44th Parliament of Canada begins on Monday.
It’ll be a big day for Anthony Rota, Nipissing-Timiskaming MP, who is seeking re-election as Speaker of the House of Commons.
“There are six people, so far, seeking the Speaker’s position and I’m one of them. It’s looking good but elections are strange things. I’m looking forward to the results,” he says.
The vote is the first order of business for the House.
When it comes to other business, Rota says child care agreements are being negotiated with the provinces.
“Most of them do have agreements and I’m looking forward to Ontario coming to some agreement, that is important. The economy is one of the key ones coming up. It’s bouncing back after COVID, although, as we come out of COVID is the best way to describe it,” he says.
Rota says inflation is a concern, which is mainly a supply problem right now across the developed world.
“It just seems that there’s a bottleneck trying to get supply to the market, a shortage of supply, and demand which is growing is causing that inflation,” he says. “I’m looking forward to economies picking up and starting to produce what we need so prices can come down and stabilize again.”
Earlier this week, Statistics Canada reported the largest year-over-year gain in the consumer price index since February 2003.
Paying higher prices at the pumps helped the inflation rate jump to 4.7 percent in October.
Gasoline prices rose 41.7 percent last month compared to the same time last year.
“It comes down to supply and demand. Demand is going up for fuel and supply doesn’t seem to be keeping up and that seems to be in the gas companies’ hands,” Rota says.
He says they’re hoping those companies will provide enough supply to keep prices reasonable.
**With files from Casey Kenny
